


come unstuck

by trustingno1



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Coming Out, Fluff, Friendship, M/M, On the Road Again Tour
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-07
Updated: 2015-09-07
Packaged: 2018-04-19 13:20:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4747901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trustingno1/pseuds/trustingno1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"<i>He been my queen since he was sixteen</i>," Louis starts, and Liam's backing him up, not loudly, but enough that he doesn't miss the first note (and he's so nervous, he probably would've abandoned the whole plan if he had), and fucking <i>bless</i> Payno, sometimes, honestly.</p>
<p>"<i>We want the same things, we dream the same dreams</i>," he continues, and he's pretty sure his voice wavers, just a little, because this - <i>this</i> - can't be written off as a shithouse recording or delusional teenage girls</p>
            </blockquote>





	come unstuck

**Author's Note:**

> An angst-free, consequence-free coming-out-on-stage fic. ♥
> 
> (That's it; that's the fic).

_i love you when you're singing that song and_  
_i got a lump in my throat 'cause_  
_you're gonna sing the words wrong_

\- riptide, vance joy.

 

* * *

 

 

_O2 Arena, London_  
_September 2015_  
  
  
  
He's been a little bit _off_ all night (just a _little_ , mind); a little too _loud_ , a little too _forced_ , and when he ducks backstage to piss and regroup, Liam follows him.  
  
"You don't have to do it tonight, Tommo," he says, darting around to block Louis' path as he heads back onstage.  
  
"Mmnn, yeah, I do," he says, pretending to think about it before brushing past him (and there's nothing going on that can't be called off, still, but after London, they're heading up to Liam's old stomping grounds, then over to Dublin, and then it'll be their last gig together for a while, and he doesn't need to make any of those shows about _him_. It _has_ to be tonight).  
  
"You're freaking out," Liam says.  
  
" _You're_ freaking out," Louis snaps, and Liam laughs, throwing an arm over Louis' shoulders as they head back out.  
  
"It'll be _fine_ ," Liam promises, with confidence, leaning in to add, mischievously, "Go get 'im," before pulling away as they head back down the ramp.  
  
Harry's paused for some water, back to the crowd, which is probably why he signs, close to his chest with his free hand, _OK?_ , curling his fingers to his thumb, then splitting his first two fingers apart. Louis jerks his head in a nod as he passes him.  
  
(And _this_ is why he _has_ to do it).  
  
Christ almighty. He can do this.  
  
Louis takes a steadying breath, and lifts his mic.  
  
" _He been my queen since he was sixteen_ ," Louis starts, and Liam's backing him up, not loudly, but enough that he doesn't miss the first note (and he's so nervous, he probably would've abandoned the whole plan if he had), and fucking _bless_ Payno, sometimes, honestly.  
  
" _We want the same things, we dream the same dreams_ ," he continues, and he's pretty sure his voice wavers, just a little, because this - _this_ \- can't be written off as a shithouse recording or delusional teenage girls.  
  
" _I got all it all, 'cause he is the one_ ," he continues, and Harry's watching them, curiously, just out of the corner of his eye, because Niall and Liam don't seem surprised, and they've been messing with the lyrics for _years_ , but this is _different_ ; any other day, it's be proper _rude_ of them to spring changes on their bandmate mid-performance, but Louis, Louis just needs to get this bit _out_ ,  
  
" _Anne calls me love, and - yeah, one day - son_."  
  
(He spent _so long_ on that one bloody line. Could've left it as-is, probably, but it'd be too _easy_ to walk away from it if he didn't use Haz's mum's name - just a few swapped pronouns, just _ladding about_ or summat - and yeah, there's something about a dad in the original line, but sometimes families _aren't_ that straightforward, and Anne welcomed him into her arms and family when he was eighteen, so.  
  
She gets a line in a song about her).  
  
Harry freezes and turns towards them properly, exaggeratedly wide-eyed, like Louis doesn't know what he's just _said_ , like that wasn't the most epic thirty seconds of Louis' _life_  
  
(there's a joke about the first time Haz sucked him just waiting to be made, but Louis is _above_ all that).  
  
Liam twirls his microphone and grins at Louis, and Niall picks up the " _I know, I know, I know for sure_ ," and Louis gives Harry a crooked smile and a little shrug and lifts his mic for the chorus.  
  
Harry joins in, but he's _flustered_ \- checking over his shoulder every few seconds, like they've got something else lined up, and how _dare_ he -  
  
" _Kisses like cream, walk is so mean, and every jaw drops when he's in those jeans_ ," Liam sings, giving Harry a once-over, and Harry spins around, hands crossed behind him over his bum, and Niall laughs.  
  
" _I don't exist if I don't have him_ ," Louis sings, smile fading a little, " _The sun doesn't shine and this doesn't rhyme, alright,_ " and Niall laughs harder, slapping him on the back as he passes behind him, leads them into the chorus again.  
  
" _He knows, he knows_ ," Harry starts, hesitantly, glancing over at Louis again, as if for _approval_ , and Louis' pretty sure his heart's trying to _crawl out of his chest_ , " _that I've never let him down before. He knows, he knows, that I'm never gonna let another take his love from me now_."  
  
" _Everybody want to steal my boy; everybody want to take his heart away_ ," Louis replies, " _Couple billion in the whole wide world,_ " and he jerks his head at Liam and Niall, like they could've possibly _forgotten_ their cue, " _Find another one, 'cause_ he," they both point to Harry, Liam shaking his hand, palm outstretched, " _belongs to_ me," and in unison, they point back at Louis.  
  
Harry drops his mic to his side and stalks across the stage towards them, and Liam lets out a squawk of surprise, mid-run, as Harry collects them in a hug, one under each arm, still moving towards Louis.  
  
Louis slams into them from the other side, closing the circle, fingertips digging into Harry's forearms over Liam and Niall's shoulders.  
  
"Yeah?" Harry asks, and he glances at Liam and Niall, briefly, before zeroing in on Louis (because it's never been about _just_ the two of them, not really; always been so much bigger than just HarryandLouis).  
  
"Yeah," he says - can't help his grin, and Harry beams back, bright-eyed and wild, and Louis _adores_ him.  
  
"Alright," is all Harry says, squeezing Louis' arms before he steps back.  
  
Louis lifts his mic. "You couldn't wait until the song was finished, Harold?" he asks, loftily, and Harry, heading back to the other side of the stage, turns around briefly to sign _nag_ at him.  
  
Louis cheerfully flips him off with his free hand, and Harry grins, even before Louis softens it with a quick thumbs up as he drops his hand.  
  
"This is a _family show_ ," Harry snaps, mock-outraged, nodding at Louis' hand, and with a sigh, Louis raises up his mic to say, in unison with Harry and what seems like everyone in the bloody stadium, including the other lads, "Or _is it?_ " and Harry cracks up, a curtain of hair falling across his face as he ducks his chin.  
  
"Are you-" Louis demands.  
  
"He's laughing at himself," Liam confirms, and Louis' pretty sure Harry just laughs harder, and Louis almost pulls something trying to control his face. _Idiot_. He sucks his bottom lip between his teeth, out of habit, and Harry tosses his hair back, glancing up to grin at Louis across the stage, something young and _freeing_ in the curve of his mouth, and bloody hell, there's no point even trying to _pretend_ he's not completely gone on Harry Styles.  
   
He cocks his head to the side and smiles, knows he's smiling so much his eyes are scrunching up, and Harry looks _delighted_.  
  
"Oi, break it up," Liam says, waving a hand quickly back and forth in front of Louis' face, and Niall snorts in laughter.  
  
Louis scrubs a hand through his hair. "Where were we?" he asks, into his mic.  
  
Harry spreads his arms out, and says, goofily, " _Nobody knooooows_."  
  
Liam glances at Louis out of the corner of his eye, all jokingly, _Him?_ and Louis shoves him, one-handed, as he says, brightly, "Little Things, yeah? I'm a _professional_."  
  
They head down the catwalk as Liam kicks them off, and he takes a seat, back-to-back with Harry, and glances towards him, half over his shoulder, as he sings his first line, then, voice steady,  
  
" _And all those conversations were the secrets I'd to keep, though it made no sense to me_."  
  
He glances up at the screen as he finishes, and the camera cuts to Harry, who's obviously watching _Louis_ on the screen, and he reaches back, blindly, and grips the end of the bench and, as he starts his part, Harry's pinkie hooks over his.  
  
" _You still have to squeeze into your jeans; but babe, you're perfect to me_."  
  
Liam turns around and mouths, exaggeratedly, " _Nice_ ," and Harry waves a hand at him, mock-bashfully.  
  
Niall perches on the divider between him and Harry, pressing his knee against Louis' shoulder, and Louis grins at his lap, before reaching up to slap Niall's knee in thanks.

"18?" Liam prompts, and Louis knows Harry's looking up at him a little quizzically, because, yeah, they've mixed up the order a bit, but tonight was meant to be _special_ , like, he's going to do this _properly_.

Almost simultaneously, though, he and Liam notice the - the _minor_ flaw in this plan; they're nowhere near where they should be for 18. Liam grins at him. "Race you," he challenges, taking off before he's even finished, and Louis bolts after him.  
  
He gets the edge on Liam just as they hit the stage, and Liam, momentum still carrying them, wraps his arms around Louis' waist and swings him around. He plants him in the direction of his mic stand and presses a messy kiss to his cheek  
  
(and even though he wipes it off, lip curling with disgust, Louis feels lighter than he has in _years_. There were tentative dates being thrown around for their coming out, dates that got pushed back further and further, a coming out that involved more and more elaborate lies, and this is him just ... moving the timeline up a little.  
  
This is him taking control of his life - _their_ lives - for the first time in five years, and it feels fucking _brilliant_ ).  
  
Louis turns slightly, angling towards Harry, who's tying up his hair.  
  
" _I have loved you since I was eighteen_ ," Louis tells Harry and the world, and Harry's arms fall to his side. Louis changes the pacing just slightly to continue, " _Long before we both fought for the same things_ ," and his chest's tight with the _enormity_ of it all, " _To be loved and to be in love_."  
  
Harry's trying, desperately, not to smile (he's terrible at it, _so_ terrible), and he grabs his mic stand and swings around to face Louis as he joins in, fingers laced together over the top of his mic.  
  
" _All I can do is say that these arms were made for holding you,_ " he turns to face Harry, and when Harry meets his gaze, he shoves his mic stand out of the way, and steps into Louis, arms already opening.  
  
He meets him halfway, catches Harry around his waist, clutching at the small of his back and Harry throws his arms around his shoulders; it's nothing but instinct, it's how they've always molded themselves together, and, shit, they still fit together just _right_.  
  
Louis buries his face in the side of Haz's neck, pressing a chaste kiss to the sweaty skin under his mouth. "I _love_ you," he says, and there's no way Harry can hear it, not with the crowd and the song still finishing (he'd apologise to the lads, but there are literally like _thirty seconds_ left) and his in-ear, but he feels Harry swallow against his lips.  
  
"Love you too," Harry says, mouth brushing Louis' ear. "So much."  
  
He hangs on for a long moment, swaying them side-to-side, just a little, before loosening his grip.  
  
Harry steps back, reluctantly, smile almost shy, before he bobs down to pick up his mic stand. "Sorry," he tells it, and Louis' going to _marry_ this fool, one day  
  
(and Christ, he thinks, as he watches Harry, something catching in his throat, that could _not_ make him any happier).


End file.
